Jamie Eastlake’s Gerry & Sewell follows two working-class friends from Gateshead on a chaotic odyssey for Newcastle United season tickets and for a sense of belonging as life repeatedly gets in the way.
Adapted from Jonathan Tulloch’s The Season Ticket and now playing at the Aldwych Theatre, the production throws musical numbers, comedy and kitchen-sink drama together that captures life under economic strain.
What began in 2022 as a one-night performance in a 60-seat theatre pub in Whitley Bay has improbably reached the West End, delivering debut performances for much of its cast.
Originally intended as a single outing, the show was granted a last-minute two-week run, leaving the Tyneside-based team just 11 weeks to prepare.
From the moment the lights go down, Gerry & Sewell erupts as Wor flags ripple across the audience, haze fills the stage and the cast launch into high-energy choreography with infectious enthusiasm.
It feels less like the beginning of a musical and more like kick-off on match day.
Flourishes of black-and-white showgirls, lucky magpies shadowed by menacing black cats, and an interpretative Nessun Dorma dance are threaded through the football-fuelled nostalgia in Eastlake’s unapologetic love letter to Newcastle.
At its heart is Gerry’s family life featuring a loving mam, an abusive dad, and a talented sister trying to hold things together for her young son.
Alongside him, Sewell acts as a mischievous guide through the madness, frequently breaking the fourth wall to engage the audience with charm and comic precision as the pair hatch increasingly daft schemes to raise the £800 needed for their season tickets.
The tonal balancing act isn’t always seamless, as darker scenes of deprivation sit alongside novelty cameos and broad humour.
Yet the show’s relentless momentum and warmth mean the comedy usually lands, and the emotional stakes remain fairly clear, though disjointed at times.
In the final stretch, celebrations erupt following the toppling of former club owner Mike Ashley.
The focus remains firmly on hope, rather than the club’s more uncomfortable modern realities in a choice which feels deliberate rather than evasive.
Despite some structural unevenness, Gerry & Sewell overflows with Geordie voices and genuine affection for its characters.
Its ambition to reflect social reality with humour, heart and unfiltered energy is unmistakable, and by the end, it’s hard not to feel swept up in the belief that really can carry you all the way to the West End.
Feature image:
Join the discussion